


Angus McDonald and the Case of the Seven Demons

by somefantasytosurvivereality



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Angus is a flesh boy, Boy detective Angus McDonald, D&D magic rules, Gen, More characters to be added, The starblaster crew are demons, sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 15:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13706985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somefantasytosurvivereality/pseuds/somefantasytosurvivereality
Summary: Angus is a good good boy trying his best. He’s a straight A student, the goalie on the soccer team, the youngest student to ever enter Neverwinter Academy, and the world’s greatest detective. Just your average boy living his best life. It only gets weird when the demons gets involved.





	Angus McDonald and the Case of the Seven Demons

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even fucking know but TAZ has consumed my life so here you go.

Angus McDonald prided himself in being a good good boy. He always held the door open, never was unprepared for class, and never got into trouble. The last one may have been a bit of a lie. But only a tiny one. Detectiving, which Angus was very very good at, led to some grey moments, and he had been known to toe that line just a little bit. On the whole though, Angus tried his best to help everyone he could. 

Of course, while Angus was a very nice boy, he was also a very smart boy. So, when a stranger approached him and just happened to request his assistance finding her dog right where Angus was investigating rumors about a cult, he knew it was a trap. Angus took a moment to weigh the pros and cons of going right into the cults hands. On one hand, walking into a trap was never a good idea. On the other he and the Neverwinter police department had been looking for leads for the past few months and every time they got close it seemed like the cult was just able to vanish. 

Due to past connections with the Neverwinter police, they had ways to track him directly if he disappeared, so perhaps falling into the trap was best for now. Also if this wasn’t a trap, Angus really liked dogs. 

“Of course I’ll help you Ma’am!”

She smiled and it was tight in all the wrong places and just screamed guilt in a way that made Angus sure that this was a trap. Angus took the initiative when it was clear she was having second thoughts. “You said you last saw your dog near this abandoned warehouse Ma’am?”

Angus had barely turned his back towards her when he felt his eyes grow heavy and his limbs relax in a familiar way. Most people probably weren’t that familiar with the feeling of a Sleep spell, but being a boy detective could be rather hazardous. It was inconvenient that he wouldn’t be awake to see their base, but after a moment of fighting it, Angus realized he just didn’t have the power to resist and let the spell pull him under.

***

It was cold. Angus’s face was pressed uncomfortably to the cold hard ground and his glasses were squished in between his temple and the floor. His hands were tied together using rope and so were his ankles. The knots weren’t too tight and Angus knew he could get out of them if he had enough time.Using his best detective skills, Angus continued the ruse that he was asleep and took in his surroundings with his kidnappers being none the wiser.

The effects of Sleep didn’t last too long, so Angus knew he couldn’t have been moved very far. From how uncomfortable his position was and how much his muscles were complaining, odds were that he had been on the floor for a little while. The voices, and there were many speaking in hushed voices, were echoing disorientingly around the room and Angus couldn’t focus on any individual conversations. They must have been in a large empty room, and considering the sketchy abandoned warehouse Angus had been poking around, he had a pretty good guess as to where he was. 

While it was helpful information, his escape probably should be the priority. Angus opened his eyes a peak, trusting that he was low enough to the ground that no one would notice. It was dimly lit, despite the fact it just couldn’t be dark outside yet. There was a flickering which implied the only light source were probably candles and torches, which seemed weird for a magic cult that could have just as easily cast Light. 

Considering the low light and his very frustrating lack of darkvision, Angus couldn’t see much, so he hoped the others couldn’t either as he twisted his head a bit to see better. A white line was painted on the ground in front of him and Angus flicked his eyes down to his feet to see it was clearly encircling him. There were all sorts of sinister spells that could be performed with a circle, and Angus felt a shiver go through him that had nothing to do with the cold floor. 

Looking back, it may not have been his best idea to get kidnapped by an unknown cult that stole millions of GPs worth of treasure and had a worryingly high casualties count. 

Angus raised his head a little bit more to look past his circle. There were people wandering around, although Angus had no idea how many, all covered in head to toe in deep black robes. The figures were of varying heights and body types, clearly from a number of different races. However, what worried Angus more than the cult members was the giant circle in front of him. It was intricately painted with unfamiliar languages, shapes, and symbols perfectly drawn inside. A summoner's circle.

A deep bit of dread filled Angus’s stomach and it churred uncomfortably. His knowledge on summoning was shaky. He knew that it invoked circles and chants in order to bring beings from other planes into the material plane. He knew there was only one reason for circles to be outside the main summoner's circle. 

He was in an offering circle. Usually used with powerful and demanding demons, offering circles were placed in the four cardinal directions to entice the creature to come through. In the circle directly across from him, Angus could make out a giant pile of gold, taller than he was standing up probably. To his left, there was a heap of jewelry and precious stones. To his right there was a circle heaped with food, rich and beautiful, and Angus wasn’t totally sure how he couldn’t smell it. And him. Little boy detective Angus McDonald was in the last circle. 

When the demon disappeared at the end of the meeting, whatever was in the circles disappeared with them. Back to the realm with the demon. Angus started trying to get the ropes on his hands to loosen. 

Angus was pulled out of his worry by a figure striding the edge of the summoning circle. “It is time,” her voice called out from behind her hood. She wasn’t directly across from Angus, but he could still make out that her black cloak was different from the others. It had traces of other colors embroidered on it. Green, blue, and red stitching in strange patterns made her stand out.

While Angus tried to figure out the significance of the colors, the people began to chant. It was haunting. They all spoke in unison and their voices twisted the strange and guttural language they spoke, and it brought shivers down Angus’s spine. He was looking around for something to help him get out of the rope when something unfortunate caught his eye. 

No longer focusing on the spell they were using, Angus directed his attention to the summoning circle on the ground. Angus didn’t know too much about summoning, only what he had time to go over in a quick crash course when he took a case a few months back where a summoner had been murdered in a locked room. It was a dark and grisly case, but he had come to the conclusion that the circle made to summon had been done incorrectly and the demon had been able to break free and defy the caller, ultimately killing her.

Circles had many rules, and circles to summon individual powerful creatures had to be specially tailored to suit each creature, which made all the swirls and symbols in the center pretty much gibberish. However, Angus had learned quite a bit about the structure of the base of the summoning circle and he knew that all circles, even the smallest designs, must be full circles. No breaks, no exceptions. There was an internal ring, small but right near Angus’s face since he was close to the edge, that was not fully connected. It looked like some old, long forgotten language and this particular character resembled a ‘Q’ in common and whoever had drawn it had made a slash right through it.

The chanting was slow, and Angus tried to interject to tell them before it all went to hell, probably literally. “Um, excuse me?”

No one seemed to be listening, so Angus tried to wiggle towards the closest one. His head hit an invisible barrier, and Angus groaned when he realized that the summoning circle may have a flaw, but the offering circle was shut tight. Angus shouted a little louder. “Excuse me!”

The chanting seemed to grow louder in response and all Angus could focus on was the stupid not-Q in the circle. “You have to stop!” Angus tried, His head hit the barrier again and he tried to get someone to notice. “Please! The circle! There’s a-”

The candles all went out, instantly plunging the room into darkness. There was a heaviness to the darkness, and it was almost like the room had been plunge into cold water. The chanting paused for the briefest moment before continuing ever stronger. A light suddenly appeared in the middle of the circle, and Angus shut his eyes tight at the sudden brightness. He was glad he did because even behind closed eyelids he could see the light getting brighter and brighter until it must have been almost blinding.

The chanting finally stopped after a long drawn out syllable, and the bright light faded enough that Angus thought it might be safe to open his eyes again. The sight he was met with was unexpected. Demons in books were usually drawn as monstrous abominations. They had a unnerving number of limbs and were large and horrifying. They were shadowy monsters with bright eyes that smiled with mouths full of sharp teeth. They were unearthly and terrifying to behold. 

The creature in the middle of the circle was nothing like that. Its back was to Angus, which made it a bit harder to make out, but it was clearly an Elven figure by the pointed ears and bone structure. There was an odd glow to the figure that was all together ethereal, but other than that, with its cloak and pointed hat covered in stars, they could have just pulled a random elf from the street. 

The candles had all relit somehow brighter than before, so Angus could make out the whole room. The main cult figure, with red and blue stitching carefully embroidered on her cloak, moved forward to address the figure. “You are Taako of the seven birds.” It was somehow not a question. 

“That’s cha’boy’s handle,” the voice was not deep and menacing like Angus expected. There was a teasing lit to it that was completely out of place in this dark and creepy room. “Gonna introduce yourself? I’m not digging the whole cloak and dagger routine to be honest.” 

The demon looked around obviously at the room and the summoners around him. He hadn’t turned behind him yet to see Angus, and Angus wasn’t sure what would happen if he did. 

“We have summoned you here through our own power and with the promise of wealth, treasure, sustenance, and magic.” Taako, the demon, did turn around at that. Now seeing his face, which Angus somehow expected to be obviously grotesque, it was clear that he was just a normal elf. Beautiful and ethereal, but not quite a demon like Angus had pictured.

Taako started in obvious surprised when he saw Angus, but his eyes quickly focused on a place in his circle in front of him. The broken circle from the clumsy lettering. Taako’s smile, coy before, grew a touch maniacal.

“EXCU-!” Angus said louder, realizing the cult members had no idea what kind of danger they were in, but was stopped when the leader snapped at a lackey who kicked him hard in the stomach without exchanging a word.

All the air left him in a huff, and Angus tried to curl in on himself but his head hit the circle’s barrier. He felt his eyes watering and squeezed his eyes shut. 

“Hmmmm, rather rude of you to give me something and then proceed to try and break it, don’t you think?” said Taako, and Angus heard the click of heeled boots as Taako came closer to him.

“We have summoned you to break the bonds and set free-”

“Yeah, listen, I’m gonna stop you right there, my dude,” Taako said, and he was closer than before. Angus took a deep breath before holding back his tears and looking up at Taako. He wasn’t as close as Angus thought. He had stopped on the image of an umbrella and was back to facing the woman in the colorful robes. “Ol’ Taako is super not into the whole monologging thing, so how about we just call it a night?”

“You will listen to what I have to say,” said the woman. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about him again, so Angus tried to work a little harder at the rope holding his wrists behind his back.

“Break the bonds, blah blah blah, set the hunger free, yadda yadda yadda, destroy the Plane. Did I get that right?” Taako said, and Angus tried to parse out what all that meant. While he had been on the case with the police department for months, they still hadn’t been able to figure out just what this groups goal was beyond stealing precious items and killing who they liked.

“You have been summoned and you will respect that demon! We have trapped-”

Taako let out a harsh laugh. “Should have listened to your captive, my dude. He was on the right track.” Taako gestured down to the broken circle right behind him, using his foot to clearly indicate the broken circle in the lettering, and Angus heard the shout of alarm as others realized what that meant. Angus shut his eyes tight when the talking was abruptly cut off. 

There was a moment where Angus was sure he was dead. He had done a lot in his young life, both for the people around him and himself, but it still seemed like it wasn’t enough. He just needed a bit more time. 

After a few moments Angus opened his eyes and realized that the silence was not due to him being dead, but that all the cult members were dropping into what Angus hoped was Sleep. Yet, Angus didn’t feel that familiar heaviness that came with the spell encroaching on his consciousness. Angus had been working on his magic recently, but he very much doubted that he had the power to resist whatever this demon cast at him. 

“So, what are you supposed to be, pumpkin?” Taako’s voice came from right above him, and Angus looked up at him from the ground. The demon seemed very tall scowling down at him.

“I’m Angus McDonald, Sir.” Angus wasn’t sure what to say, but that was clearly wrong as Taako frowned deeper.

“Names are powerful, Agnes, might not want to go throwing them around like that.”

Angus looked meaningfully at the fact that Taako was very much not trapped in his circle anymore, the fact that Angus still was, and the ropes on his wrists and ankles. “Well, sir, I honestly don’t think this whole thing could get much worse for me.”

Taako laughed and Angus was startled by it. “You got me there, buballa,” he said, and snapped his fingers. Angus felt the ropes dissolve and flexed his arms and legs to get the pins and needles out. Taako dragged a heeled foot through the white paint around Angus, clearly smudging it enough to break the seal. 

The demon, and Angus had to remind himself that the being in front of him was a demon with the power to cast over ten people into sleep effortlessly, brought himself gracefully onto the floor to sit across from Angus. Not wanting to be rude, Angus sat up and crossed his legs so he was seated comfortably in front of the demon. 

“You broke my circle,” said Angus. Taako was being much nicer than the people who had kidnapped him. He didn’t even seem to have any bad intentions that Angus could sense with his superior detective skills. Plus the opportunity to talk to a demon didn’t happen every day and Angus was going to take advantage of this opportunity!

Taako put his palms behind him and leaned back, his face was looking towards the ceiling but his eyes were closed. There was a faint dusting of sparkles on his cheeks, and Angus tried to figure out if it was part of the demon thing or just makeup. “‘Natch. I don’t need some snot nosed little kid following me back, now do I? Gonna keep the other shit though, cha’boy’s got needs.”

Angus tried to pull what little knowledge he had on summoning out but was finding it painfully insufficient. He really needed to go to a library. ”But how do you go back if the people who summoned you are unconscious?” 

One of Taako’s eye opened to stare at him. “Just gotta send myself back, buballa. A little more work on my end, but not the end of the world.” Taako pushed himself forward so he was sitting criss-cross on the floor mirroring Angus. 

“So how exactly did a five year old get involved in all this shit, Aglet?” Taako fixed the hat at a more jaunty angle on his head. 

“I’m actually eleven years old, sir,” Angus said, and ignored Taako’s muttered ‘Bullshit’ as he continued. “I’m actually the world’s greatest detective and I was investigating the cult that summoned you.”

“You must be a pretty shit detective to have ended up in there.” Taako nodded to the circle, and Angus was thankful that his skin was dark enough it was unlikely that Taako could see the sudden flush to his cheeks.

“It was all part of my cunning plan, sir,” Angus lied with a smile. “I needed the location of their base and this was the fastest way.”

“Uh-huh,” said Taako, standing up and stretching his arms over his head. “Well, this has been thrilling, Ango, but Taako’s got places to be and-”

“Wait!” Angus interrupted. He still knew nothing about the cult or what they were doing and he needed some answers. “What was she talking about when she said breaking bonds? And you said something about ‘the hunger’? It would really help my investigation if you could answer my questions, sir!” Angus pushed his glasses back up from where they were slipping down his nose.

“Would you look at the time,” said Taako, checking his wrist, which Angus noted very obviously did not have a watch on it. “Looks like Taako’s gotta go. I’m a very busy guy. See you soon, J’Ango.”

“But, sir! I still have questions and-” Angus was cut off as Taako tapped him on the nose and the very familiar feeling of Sleep washed over him. He tried to fight it off, making his eyes wide and pinching his own thigh. His brain caught on the words the demon had said. “You’ll see me soon?”

Taako frowned and bopped him on the nose again. Angus pinched himself again, but felt himself going under. Taako’s words came slowly, and echoed as if they were far away. A small laugh. “Well, even if I don’t take you with me, you’re still MY magic boy, Angus McDonald.”

And with that, Angus knew no more.

***

It was the second time Angus had woken up on the floor in one day, and Angus was really starting to doubt the lifestyle he had chosen for himself. Well, eleven had been a bit early to choose a career, and it wasn’t like it could get any worse.

However, instead of being squished on the cold ground, Angus felt something under his head and a blanket around him. And there was a feeling of small hands shaking his shoulder.

“C’mon, up and at ‘em, boy detective,” a familiar voice said, and Angus immediately was thankful that officer Hurley was the one that Neverwinter police sent to get him. Hurley was a nice women who tried to act stern but always let him take a peek at the case files when he could and was willing to treat him more like an actual person than most of the other officers.

Angus sat up and realized someone had draped one of the dark cloaks over him, and that another one was balled up where his head had been. “What happened?” His voice came out a little groggier than he meant it two, and his squinted at Hurley who was a little blurry. Oh, his glasses. 

“Here you go, Angus,” Hurley said as she held out his glasses to him. Angus put them on grateful when the other officers scuttling around the crime scene came into focus. He was in what must have been the lobby of the warehouse, which was strange because he definitely fell into Sleep in the main room with the circle. “Found them on the ground right next to you. As to what happened, well I was hoping you could tell us.”

“There was a summoning,” Angus said and he tried to get all his thoughts together quickly. “They mess up though and it failed.”

Hurley looked grim at the news and threw a look over her shoulder where the room with the summoning circle was. “Yeah that’s what they thought. Glad I tried to call you when I did, who knows how long you all would have been out.”

Angus feared the worst for a moment. “Ma’am?”

“Everyone’s under a pretty powerful Sleep in there, seems like you got some of it to. Why don’t we head down to the station and you can fill out a report there? The officers here can take care of everything else.”

Normally, Angus loved to look at crime scenes and figure everything out, but he was still groggy from getting Sleep cast on him twice and the other impossible things that had happened, so Angus took Hurley’s offered hand and nodded. She pulled him to his feet and Angus was actually a bit taller than her, since she was a halfling. That didn’t stop her from grabbing onto this arm when Angus felt a wave of dizziness hit him and the world started to tilt a little bit. 

“That’s a nice bracelet, Angus,” Hurley said as they made their way out of the warehouse.  
Angus looked down at his wrist and realized that he was now wearing a charm bracelet. He had never been one for jewelry before, and he had definitely not been wearing that the last time he looked at his wrist. It was nice. Silver and with chains small enough to move but thick enough to be sturdy. There was just one charm on it, a small wizard’s hat with little stars carved in. 

He had a feeling he knew who gave it to him. “Thank you, Ma’am. It was a gift.”

***

The rest of the day passed without incident. Angus went to the Neverwinter police station and filled out a report of what happened. He made the executive decision not to mention that he was actually in one of the offering circles and the strange interaction with the demon. Just carefully said that from what he’d seen, the summoning failed. Surprisingly enough, the cultist were mostly alive but under a powerful Sleep enchantment. The two exceptions were the leader in the fancy robes and the one that had been the southern summoning circle, which Angus realized must have been right next to where he was. The Sleep was simply strong enough that healers said they would never wake up.

As Angus curled up in his dorm room bed that night, he supposed the whole thing with the demon may have just been a figment of his imagination, but then the charm bracelet on his wrist was still there. Angus fumbled for a clasp and frowned when he couldn’t find one. He tried to pull it over his wrist, but it was just the right size where it wouldn’t come off his hand. 

Well, his life never did seem to be boring.


End file.
